"(HealthScoutNews) -- A mouse experiment raises the tantalizing prospect of fulfilling every glutton's dream -- eating all you want without gaining weight and being healthier to boot.

In the experiment, scientists at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston created a strain of mice without one specific gene, which codes for insulin receptors in the fat cells. These FIRKO (fat-specific insulin receptor knockout) mice ate all they wanted -- indeed, they were stimulated to eat more than they wanted -- and did not gain weight, says a report in the Jan. 24 issue of Science.

At 30 months of age, more than middle aged for a mouse, 80 percent of the FIRKO mice were still alive, compared to 45 percent to 54 percent of similar mice who had the gene. And their overall lifespan was increased by 18 percent compared to normal mice who ate as much as they did, the report says.
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They also were protected against the metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity, including Type II diabetes.
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I think that in the next 10 or 15 years, pharmaceutical companies and independent investigators could develop such a drug."